Cmort, consider this a bit of advice and not a criticism because I really don't intend to start a fight. However, I've noticed that you have a distinct animosity towards the Police in your posts and would advise you to think about something.

That is that any Police officer you come in contact with will pick up on that animosity immediately and will respond to it by taking a "hard line" approach. This means that you are going to continue to have bad experiences with the Police and it is going to be in large part due to your attitude.

I'd also like you to think about what the line officers of today face. In many areas Policing has shifted in large part from protecting the public to an income generating operation. Many communities have had to do this because it's the only way that they can keep their police departments funded, unfortunatey between dropping property values, declining employment, and a reduction in taxes collected, the only way many communities can continue to operate a police force is by using their officers as tax collectors. I can assure you that the police officers don't appreciate being used this way but with so many departments closing they go along with the program so they can keep their jobs. What this means is the today's police officers are expected to write citations that 20 years ago would have earned them a lecture from the administrator in a Mayor's Court.

Put yourself in the line officers place, in order to keep working you're expected to hand in a certain number of citations every day, even if they are for something as minor as a 2 over the limit infraction. I know a few cops and I can tell you that every single one of them just LOATHES doing this. However, they do it because they have mouths to feed and not a lot of options concerning finding work at a different department. If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of well qualified police officers looking for work nationwide because their police department closed up shop. So, before that officer even exits his car he's not in the best frame of mind. Now, consider what takes place when he is immediately greeted by someone who is obviously distinctly hostile, the result is anything but a pleasent encounter. You should also remember that there have been many police officers who were greeted with gunfire. Fact is that it's not an easy career path and today it's become just miserable.

Now, it happens that back in the 70's I worked at the Sohio station at exit 13 on the turnpike in Boston Heights. At that time the Boston Heights PD had the highest income in the entire state per capita of any community in Ohio. On the face, it was a real speed trap, however the Boston Heights PD didn't pull anyone over if they were less than 20 mph over the limit on Rt. 8. While working there I had a lot of contact with the BHPD an Staties from the turnpike. One bit of advice from a sargent with OHP stuck and has proven to be invaluable to me. That was to be as pleasent and courtious during the stop as I would be with my father. It's not the place or the time to argue about specifics of the infraction, we have courts for that. Be nice, be calm, be willing to take your lumps, and you may get nothing more than a warning to slow down. That's actually worked well for me for over 40 years and I've actually had officers testify on my behalf on 2 seperate occasions when I did get cited and appeared in court. The first time the Mayor's court administrator dismissed the charge and the second time the fine was cut in half with no record imposed provided I satisfied a 6 month probation with no violations.

Just something to think about. The police today don't have an easy job to do and just a bit of courtesy and a good joke can go a long way towards getting a break. You won't always get off with a warning but I think that you'd be very surprized and how often being pleasent can result in getting nothing more than a warning.